Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2023
118. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the reason it is taking so long for a BER assessment to take place for persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52139/23]
View answerThe Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme delivers a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to households vulnerable to energy poverty. This year's budget of €148.5 million is the highest ever.
Increased awareness of the multiple benefits of retrofit and improvements to the Warmer Homes Scheme is driving increased levels of demand for the scheme with over 20,000 applications received over the period from January 2022 to end September 2023.
The Scheme is delivering deeper upgrades with more emissions reductions and energy savings for homeowners. The average cost of upgrades increased to €24,000 in 2023 and these deeper upgrades take a longer time per home to complete.
The BER Assessment is a critical step of the process, and it is important that we can be confident that inspections supported by SEAI schemes are completed in line with the terms and conditions, as set out in the scheme.
To end October this year, over 4,500 homes have been upgraded. This is already more homes than were completed under the scheme in all of 2022 and we are on target to upgrade 6,000 homes under the scheme by the end of the year.
The average waiting time from application to completion in Q3 2023 was just under 20 months. This is a decrease from an average of 26 months for homes completed in 2022. The reduction in wait times follows a range of measures introduced by the Department and SEAI including enhanced budgets; increased staffing resources in SEAI; and actions to address supply chain challenges.
SEAI also established a new contractor panel in September this year, adding 7 additional contractors bringing the total to 36.
My officials continue to work with the SEAI to maximise and accelerate the output of free energy upgrades delivered.
The applicant can contact SEAI at any time to get further information on the status of their application either by email to warmerhomes@seai.ie or by phone to 1800 250 204. Oireachtas members can make queries on behalf on applicants by contacting the dedicated email address oireachtas@seai.ie. for a swift response.
